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Newton, Mass. Severs Ties with the ADL
By Michael Weiss / September 14, 2007
I was just having dinner with an old friend the other night who's from Newton, Massachusetts, sort of the haute-bourgeois Lodz for the Diaspora. I told him about Jewcy's ongoing battle with the ADL and that organization's cynical stance on the matter of the Armenian Genocide. My friend's pretty conservative and is far more concerned with tradition, Jewish continuity, and Israel than I am. He shook his head and told me what anyone below the age of 50 has come to discover in due course: Guys like Abe Foxman are just too fucking old.
I had no idea what the term "New Jew" meant until I joined this magazine. But judging by its readership, the wider online community of vibrant young members of Team Chosen, and the array of their political and cultural convictions, I think we have cause to be optimistic. The Foxmans of the world won't be around forever, and guess who stands to inherit the mantle of Jewish leadership once they're gone? The generation that grew up watching an overnight annihilation of Tutsis take place live on CNN; the generation that saw an ex-Communist apparatchik ethnically "cleanse" one of the most cosmopolitan centers of European Islam; the generation that continues to watch black Muslims being killed, raped, and exiled from their homes in Sudan. If "never again" is too high a mark to shoot for, then let's redefine the term: let's make it mean that so-called realism can no longer stand in the way of cold, hard, brutal fact.
Here's an encouraging sign: The Newton Human Rights Commission has severed its ties to the ADL. Our friend Sevag Arzoumanian sent us this press clipping, reposted from No Place For Denial:
Town Refuses to be ‘On the Same Boat’ with ADL By Khatchig Mouradian The Armenian Weekly September 12, 2007 NEWTON, Mass. (A.W.)—Generations of Americans converged at Newton City Hall on Sept. 11 to make their voices heard to the local Human Rights Commission (NHRC) meeting, which, after deliberations, unanimously voted to cut their ties with the ADL’s No Place for Hate (NPFH) program until the former unequivocally recognizes the Armenian genocide and supports H.R.106 in Congress, thereby affirming the historical record. Commissioners and Advisory Council Members In a letter dated Aug. 24, the NHRC had asked the ADL to recognize the Armenian genocide, actively support H.R.106 and rehire the ADL’s New England regional director Andrew Tarsy. During the Sept. 11 meeting, commissioner Marianne Ferguson noted that although Tarsy has since been rehired, unequivocal recognition and support for the Genocide Resolution had not been achieved. Advisory Council member Dianne Chilingerian expressed concern about the ADL’s position on the Genocide Resolution, which she considered inconsistent with its mission. She said that she is bothered by the ADL’s position as a human rights activist, and that this is not just an Armenian issue. Student Advisory council member David Fisher asked how we expect to end genocide campaigns today “when we still can’t recognize what happened 92 years ago.” ADL Regional Board Members Emphasizing that he was not speaking on behalf of the ADL, the organization’s NE Regional Board member Gerry Tishler said, “I have studied, thought and written about the Armenian genocide and it wasn’t ‘tantamount to genocide’ it was genocide. … I am also in favor of the U.S. government acknowledging and commemorating the Armenian genocide.” He noted that the meeting of the ADL’s national commissioners will discuss the issue in November, though said that continuing with the NPFH should not be based on that outcome. “If you make it conditional, you are making a bad mistake,” he said, noting how much the ADL has added to the town’s programs. NE Regional Board member Beth Tishler also argued the importance of not dissociating from the NPFH, adding, “We have stood up and gone against our national leadership. We have heard you. The National ADL has heard you.” ADL National commissioner David Apel said that ADL national director Abe Foxman “is not empowered” to support the Genocide Resolution, and that “your message will be brought forth to the national commissioners in November.” In response, members of the audience pointed out that while Foxman seems to be able to change his position daily on the Armenian issue, he needs the green light from the commissioners to properly acknowledge the truth about 1915. “I reject the notion that we are misguided citizens,” continued Apel. He said the last few months had been a learning experience for him and many others, and that everyone in the room was on the same boat. “Give us time till November,” he added. Members of the Audience Newton residents, university professors, human rights activists, students, descendents of Armenian genocide and Holocaust survivors, spoke about the need to send the right message by severing ties with the ADL. Newton resident David Boyajian, whose letter to the Watertown Tab sparked the ADL controversy, said that the “ADL’s [genocide] acknowledgement was thinly disguised denial,” and that its “verbal gymnastics show bad faith.” He stressed that the ADL will not change its position without pressure from the towns, and asked that Newton sever its ties immediately. Newton resident Sonya Merian, whose mother was on one of the earliest Newton Human Rights commissions, read a letter by the ANC of Eastern Massachusetts addressed to the NHRC members and Newton mayor David Cohen. “Foxman apologized to the Prime Minister of Turkey for having put his government ‘in a difficult position,’ expressing his ‘sorrow over what we have caused for the leadership and people of Turkey.’ No apology to the heirs of Armenian Genocide survivors has been issued to date,” she said. Prof. Jack Nusan Porter, treasurer of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), stressed the importance of severing ties with the ADL until Foxman resigns or changes course. “Turkey cannot harm a single hair of a single Jew,” he said, referring to Foxman’s stated concern that supporting the Genocide Resolution would harm the Turkish-Jewish community. “Is Israel, with its army, afraid of Turkey?” he asked. Newton resident Nancy Aykanian said she was startled that the NPFH has an annual re-certification process for all participating towns, and said the ADL was hardly in a position to grade anyone on their human rights performance. “The ADL lacks the moral leadership and courage and any program sponsored by the ADL cannot be accepted,” said Newton resident Michael Mensoyan. Newton resident and Armenian Youth federation (AYF) member Nora Kaleshian said, “My family and I are deeply hurt [by ADL’s practices],” expressing hope that it promotes the Human Rights of all people. Prominent human rights activist and author of Our Bodies, Ourselves, Judy Norsigian, also from Newton, noted that “the time is ripe to make this a national issue.” She underlined the position and authority of Newton to send a strong message to the ADL by severing ties. Newton resident Bethel Charkoudian introduced her father, a genocide survivor and thanked the NHRC for their stance. “My father survived the genocide and came here because he knew people understood his suffering,” she said. Associate professor of philosophy at Worcester State College Henry Theriault said that while people were used to the denial of the Armenian genocide by Turkey, it was shocking to see a human rights organization engaging in the denial, adopting similar hate speech and lobbying against genocide recognition. “There is no such thing as ‘degree of genocide,’” said Newton resident Salpi Sarafian. “The ADL has spoken in absolute clarity against Sudan, Bosnia and Afghanistan. They need to do the same regarding the Armenian genocide.” In a poignant speech, activist Berge Jololian underscored the importance of realizing that recognizing the Armenian genocide is a moral issue and not a political one. “ADL was established in 1913, the Armenian genocide occured in 1915. ADL had 92 years to acknowledge this crime,” he said. Activist Narini Badalian recounted her experience at a recent lecture by Foxman in New York. Badalian had confronted Foxman to say whether ADL’s position is consistent with that of a Human Rights organization. Foxman had responded, “It is up to you to decide.” Badalian urged, “It is time for us to decide.” Activist Luder Sahagian made strong points about the failure of the ADL to “rigorously uphold settled history.” He said, “The ADL has yet to subscribe to the wisdom of the esteemed Rabbi Hillel, who many, many years ago advised, ‘What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor…That is the entire law. All the rest is commentary.’” Visiting professor of Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University Dikran Kaligian said, “The ADL has made itself complicit in [Turkey’s] multi-million dollar denial campaign.” When the ADL controversy first broke, he explained, the ADL’s first reaction was not to approach the Armenian community but to hire a leading PR company. “Foxman does not see this as a moral issue, but a PR problem,” Kaligian said, adding, “We need to take the necessary steps for them to get the message.” In an emotional speech, activist Alik Arzoumanian responded to the numerous calls on the NHRC and on Armenians to wait until the November meeting before deciding to sever ties. “We have been waiting all our lives,” she said, and explained how offended she was by Foxman’s claim that a Genocide Resolution was “counter-productive.” Foxman considers “our struggle to recover our dignity” to be counterproductive, she added. “I don’t want to give National ADL one more day.” Mayor Cohen Newton mayor David Cohen spoke next, and said that “there is a tremendous amount of common ground here.” He called the ADL National’s failure to “make a forthright statement” recognizing the genocide and supporting the resolution as “an ongoing injustice.” “The resolution that we have in the U.S. Congress is one of the best pieces of legislation that deserves passage,” he said, referring to H.R.106. “It is incumbent on the ADL” to support it, he added. On the same boat? ADL Regional Board members emphasized several times during the meeting that everyone in the room was “on the same boat,” though they went on to say that suspending ties with the NPFH and ADL was not the answer. Asked to comment near the end of the meeting, however, Student Advisory Council member Fisher said, “Hearing the voices of the Armenian community and my own Jewish conscience, I cannot be on the same boat with you.” The NHRC voted unanimously to cease participation in the NPFH, pending the ADL’s unambiguous recognition of the Armenian genocide and support of HR106.
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FOR SALE: WEST’S DEADLY NUCLEAR SECRETS
Insight: Chris Gourlay, Jonathan Calvert, Joe Lauria
A
WHISTLEBLOWER has made a series of extraordinary claims about how
corrupt government officials allowed Pakistan and other states to steal
nuclear weapons secrets.
Sibel Edmonds, a
37-year-old former Turkish language translator for the FBI, listened
into hundreds of sensitive intercepted conversations while based at the
agency’s Washington field office.
She approached
The Sunday Times last month after reading about an Al-Qaeda terrorist
who had revealed his role in training some of the 9/11 hijackers while
he was in Turkey.
Edmonds described how foreign
intelligence agents had enlisted the support of US officials to acquire
a network of moles in sensitive military and nuclear institutions.
Among
the hours of covert tape recordings, she says she heard evidence that
one well-known senior official in the US State Department was being
paid by Turkish agents in Washington who were selling the information
on to black market buyers, including Pakistan.
The
name of the official – who has held a series of top government posts –
is known to The Sunday Times. He strongly denies the claims.
However,
Edmonds said: "He was aiding foreign operatives against US interests by
passing them highly classified information, not only from the State
Department but also from the Pentagon, in exchange for money, position
and political objectives."
She claims that the
FBI was also gathering evidence against senior Pentagon officials –
including household names – who were aiding foreign agents.
"If
you made public all the information that the FBI have on this case, you
will see very high-level people going through criminal trials," she
said.
Her story shows just how much the West was
infiltrated by foreign states seeking nuclear secrets. It illustrates
how western government officials turned a blind eye to, or were even
helping, countries such as Pakistan acquire bomb technology.
The
wider nuclear network has been monitored for many years by a joint
Anglo-American intelligence effort. But rather than shut it down,
investigations by law enforcement bodies such as the FBI and Britain’s
Revenue & Customs have been aborted to preserve diplomatic
relations.
Edmonds, a fluent speaker of Turkish
and Farsi, was recruited by the FBI in the aftermath of the September
11 attacks. Her previous claims about incompetence inside the FBI have
been well documented in America.
She has given
evidence to closed sessions of Congress and the 9/11 commission, but
many of the key points of her testimony have remained secret. She has
now decided to divulge some of that information after becoming
disillusioned with the US authorities’ failure to act.
One
of Edmonds’s main roles in the FBI was to translate thousands of hours
of conversations by Turkish diplomatic and political targets that had
been covertly recorded by the agency.
A backlog
of tapes had built up, dating back to 1997, which were needed for an
FBI investigation into links between the Turks and Pakistani, Israeli
and US targets. Before she left the FBI in 2002 she heard evidence that
pointed to money laundering, drug imports and attempts to acquire
nuclear and conventional weapons technology.
"What
I found was damning," she said. "While the FBI was investigating,
several arms of the government were shielding what was going on."
The
Turks and Israelis had planted "moles" in military and academic
institutions which handled nuclear technology. Edmonds says there were
several transactions of nuclear material every month, with the
Pakistanis being among the eventual buyers. "The network appeared to be
obtaining information from every nuclear agency in the United States,"
she said.
They were helped, she says, by the
high-ranking State Department official who provided some of their moles
– mainly PhD students – with security clearance to work in sensitive
nuclear research facilities. These included the Los Alamos nuclear
laboratory in New Mexico, which is responsible for the security of the
US nuclear deterrent.
In one conversation
Edmonds heard the official arranging to pick up a $15,000 cash bribe.
The package was to be dropped off at an agreed location by someone in
the Turkish diplomatic community who was working for the network.
The
Turks, she says, often acted as a conduit for the Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s spy agency, because they were less
likely to attract suspicion. Venues such as the American Turkish
Council in Washington were used to drop off the cash, which was picked
up by the official.
Edmonds said: "I heard at least three transactions like this over a period of 2½ years. There are almost certainly more."
The Pakistani operation was led by General Mahmoud Ahmad, then the ISI chief.
Intercepted
communications showed Ahmad and his colleagues stationed in Washington
were in constant contact with attache in the Turkish embassy.
Intelligence
analysts say that members of the ISI were close to Al-Qaeda before and
after 9/11. Indeed, Ahmad was accused of sanctioning a $100,000 wire
payment to Mohammed Atta, one of the 9/11 hijackers, immediately before
the attacks.
The results of the espionage were almost certainly passed to Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist.
Khan
was close to Ahmad and the ISI. While running Pakistan’s nuclear
programme, he became a millionaire by selling atomic secrets to Libya,
Iran and North Korea. He also used a network of companies in America
and Britain to obtain components for a nuclear programme.
Khan
caused an alert among western intelligence agencies when his aides met
Osama Bin Laden. "We were aware of contact between A Q Khan’s people
and Al-Qaeda," a former CIA officer said last week. "There was absolute
panic when we initially discovered this, but it kind of panned out in
the end."
It is likely that the nuclear secrets stolen from the United States would have been sold to a number of rogue states by Khan.
Edmonds
was later to see the scope of the Pakistani connections when it was
revealed that one of her fellow translators at the FBI was the daughter
of a Pakistani embassy official who worked for Ahmad. The translator
was given top secret clearance despite protests from FBI investigators.
Edmonds
says packages containing nuclear secrets were delivered by Turkish
operatives, using their cover as members of the diplomatic and military
community, to contacts at the Pakistani embassy in Washington.
Following
9/11, a number of the foreign operatives were taken in for questioning
by the FBI on suspicion that they knew about or somehow aided the
attacks.
Edmonds said the State Department
official once again proved useful. "A primary target would call the
official and point to names on the list and say, ‘We need to get them
out of the US because we can’t afford for them to spill the beans’,"
she said. "The official said that he would ‘take care of it’."
The four suspects on the list were released from interrogation and extradited.
Edmonds also claims that a number of senior officials in the Pentagon had helped Israeli and Turkish agents.
"The
people provided lists of potential moles from Pentagon-related
institutions who had access to databases concerning this information,"
she said.
"The handlers, who were part of the
diplomatic community, would then try to recruit those people to become
moles for the network. The lists contained all their ‘hooking points’,
which could be financial or sexual pressure points, their exact job in
the Pentagon and what stuff they had access to."
One
of the Pentagon figures under investigation was Lawrence Franklin, a
former Pentagon analyst, who was jailed in 2006 for passing US defence
information to lobbyists and sharing classified information with an
Israeli diplomat.
"He was one of the top people providing information and packages during 2000 and 2001," she said.
Once
acquired, the nuclear secrets could have gone anywhere. The FBI
monitored Turkish diplomats who were selling copies of the information
to the highest bidder.
Edmonds said: "Certain
greedy Turkish operators would make copies of the material and look
around for buyers. They had agents who would find potential buyers."
In
summer 2000, Edmonds says the FBI monitored one of the agents as he met
two Saudi Arabian businessmen in Detroit to sell nuclear information
that had been stolen from an air force base in Alabama. She overheard
the agent saying: "We have a package and we’re going to sell it for
$250,000."
Edmonds’s employment with the FBI
lasted for just six months. In March 2002 she was dismissed after
accusing a colleague of covering up illicit activity involving Turkish
nationals.
She has always claimed that she was
victimised for being outspoken and was vindicated by an Office of the
Inspector General review of her case three years later. It found that
one of the contributory reasons for her sacking was that she had made
valid complaints.
The US attorney-general has
imposed a state secrets privilege order on her, which prevents her
revealing more details of the FBI’s methods and current investigations.
Her
allegations were heard in a closed session of Congress, but no action
has been taken and she continues to campaign for a public hearing.
She
was able to discuss the case with The Sunday Times because, by the end
of January 2002, the justice department had shut down the programme.
The
senior official in the State Department no longer works there. Last
week he denied all of Edmonds’s allegations: "If you are calling me to
say somebody said that I took money, that’s outrageous . . . I do not
have anything to say about such stupid ridiculous things as this."
In
researching this article, The Sunday Times has talked to two FBI
officers (one serving, one former) and two former CIA sources who
worked on nuclear proliferation. While none was aware of specific
allegations against officials she names, they did provide overlapping
corroboration of Edmonds’s story.
One of the CIA
sources confirmed that the Turks had acquired nuclear secrets from the
United States and shared the information with Pakistan and Israel. "We
have no indication that Turkey has its own nuclear ambitions. But the
Turks are traders. To my knowledge they became big players in the late
1990s," the source said.
How Pakistan got the bomb, then sold it to the highest bidders
1965
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s foreign minister, says: "If India
builds the bomb we will eat grass . . . but we will get one of our own"
1974 Nuclear programme becomes increased priority as India tests a nuclear device
1976
Abdul Qadeer Khan, a scientist, steals secrets from Dutch uranium
plant. Made head of his nation’s nuclear programme by Bhutto, now prime
minister
1976 onwards Clandestine network established to obtain materials and technology for uranium enrichment from the West
1985 Pakistan produces weapons-grade uranium for the first time
1989-91 Khan’s network sells Iran nuclear weapons information and technology
1991-97 Khan sells weapons technology to North Korea and Libya
1998
India tests nuclear bomb and Pakistan follows with a series of nuclear
tests. Khan says: "I never had any doubts I was building a bomb. We had
to do it"
2001 CIA chief George Tenet gathers
officials for crisis summit on the proliferation of nuclear technology
from Pakistan to other countries
2001 Weeks before 9/11, Khan’s aides meet Osama Bin Laden to discuss an Al-Qaeda nuclear device
2001 After 9/11 proliferation crisis becomes secondary as Pakistan is seen as important ally in war on terror
2003 Libya abandons nuclear weapons programme and admits acquiring components through Pakistani nuclear scientists
2004
Khan placed under house arrest and confesses to supplying Iran, Libya
and North Korea with weapons technology. He is pardoned by President
Pervez Musharraf
2006 North Korea tests a nuclear bomb
2007 Renewed fears that bomb may fall into hands of Islamic extremists as killing of Benazir Bhutto throws country into turmoil
I agree that the YouTube speech Paul shared is very powerful and I commend it to everyone interested in this issue.
I thought I would also share an obituary that appeared in a Montreal newspaper today, announcing the funeral of a woman thought to be Montreal's oldest Armenian Genocide survivor. Her's is another compelling story.
It actually made me cry.
Thank you Paul. I have 3 young children, all under 5 years old. When I imagine what that woman’s grandmother endured when she was 5, I see my daughter’s face, and it makes my body shiver. There is an actual physical response. How many thousands of little children arrived in the Syrian dessert as orphans after watching their parents and siblings die before their very eyes? Then it happens again in Europe, then in Cambodia, then in Rwanda, and now in Darfur, and we’re still here arguing whether or not we should officially call the first one a Genocide. If we can’t do this simple thing, what hope do we really have in enforcing the idea of “never again”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC8I9ttFiX0
This speech at the Belmont hearing on ADL’s No Place for Hate perfectly encapsulates how Armenians feel on the issue. It’s extremely powerful and if anyone ever questions why such a big deal is being made about this or why 92 years later Armenians still make it an issue, I think this should answer everything.
There has been article after article on this issue, and half-hearted press release after press release from the ADL, but if Abraham Foxman could only see one thing on this issue at all to make the entire thing crystal clear for him and why he has angered so many people with his continued games, it should be this speech. If this doesn’t say it all, what will?
>>I get frustrated when some of us scream about Armenians and Darfur, but not the Mandaeans, who are suffering from this war which our own helped sell. <<
DK, I have news for you. Armenians are suffering from this war, too. I am personally aware of two Armenian families from Baghdad, now in limbo in Aleppo because of our war. There are many, many Armenians and other Christians who have been either killed or forced into exile since we started this mess.
David,
The U.S. War in Iraq is indirectly responsible for the extermination of the Mandaeans, and is directly responsible for not protecting them. This did not occur under Saddam.
The Armenian genocide is not really our responsibility. This is. But where is the call of concern, and calls to protect the remaining few Mandaeans, from Commentary and the NY Sun, massive proponents of this war? Perhaps Mr. Podhoretz could name the genocide of the Mandaeans WWVII or something like that?
As far as I'm concerned, they have Mandaean blood on their hands. Darfur, Armenia…these aren't our doing.The genocide of the Manadaeans…they are doubly our problem. U.S. war, Neocon sale and support of war.
You're right that they are distinct, but I think Jewcy has shown abundant clarity in presenting "new Jews" as distinct from "Jews." For example, if you pull up the recent promo video for Jewcy on YouTube, you'll see that the first comment says, "Well just remember, you don't have to be Jewish to be JEWCY!"
I don't see any modernists going around complaining that postmodernism isn't modernism.
I don't see how the suffering of the Mandaeans undermines arguments for recognizing the genocide in Darfur. Your personal sympathy for the Mandaeans neither grants them privileged recognition nor makes anything Michael said wrong.
Michael,
I suspect the Mandaeans are quite closely related to the Jewish people. Additionally, they are pacifists (which might help explain their small numbers in the not-quite-the-Summer-of-Love Middle East), and their criticism of Jews needs to be understood within the context of their peaceful nature. I feel they are long last family, and we should be trying to help them more than we are. I get frustrated when some of us scream about Armenians and Darfur, but not the Mandaeans, who are suffering from this war which our own helped sell.
And Shana Tova, Michael.
As best I understand it, those of southern Iraq have fled because they've been persecuted by Islamic extremists. I'm not sure why you'd think I'd be happy or indifferent about this, DK. We frothing neocons (if you're going to capitalize it, at least include my full title: Supreme Allied Neocon Commander of Halliburton) don't much care for Islamic extremists.
Apologies, though, if I ruffled any feathers with my sub-Brokaw bombast.
Best,
Michael
Well, David, let's start with the term, "New Jew." There is no "New Jew," David, not anymore than there is a "new Christian" or a "new Hindu." Things change all the time, but if people change more than they remain similar within a group, they leave that group. And most Jews are indeed leaving. Those who stay will–in the end–be perceived to have changed less and passed on more, until or unless their descendants change more and leave. Does this make any sense? This sort of self-importance is more hype than real. And I am assuming it makes for bad policy. Arrogance and self-grandeur usually does.
Now, Mr. Weiss then talks about "The Generation," as if what we saw on CNN really makes us so fucking special, as opposed to say, the generation that went through the Holocaust, but apparently, since they did not see it on CNN, the whole experience is less profound. But anyway, Weiss mentions two genocides of Africa, including a current one, but you know what Weiss doesn't mention? The genocide of the Mandaeans. You know why not? Because it was arrogant Neocons like Weiss who thought they could change the world who sold this war and it led to the destruction of a remnant of an ancient people. The Mandaeans are all but finished, and Neocons like Weiss never talk about that, but they sure are all ready to take their much hyped Tikkun Olam skills to Africa and solve the continents genocidal issues there.
You know what? For all this talk of change, I don't see a lot of change, and I don't see a very big learning curve. I see more of the same, just worse. But hey, at least it'll be on CNN. Because Our Generation is special like that.
I like the old Jew, and I like the New Jew. I don’t get why you think the New Jew is bad. And when you say “we are totally fucked” who’s the “we”?
Care to provide a reason beyond your obvious fear of change?
If the writer is at all indicative of the "New Jew." and I fear he is, we are totally fucked, because the arrogance of this generation will surely lead to different but even bigger blind spots.
Let me know when you and yours have taken the reigns of power. I will run for the hills.
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